Occupy L.A.

( Ariana van den Akker / Los Angeles Times / July 18, 2012 )

Occupy activists who declined to provide their names camp outside the headquarters of Central City Assn., a downtown L.A. business group that represents local shop owners but also large corporations and banks. Many of the activists are protesting gentrification in downtown and how, in their view, it is pushing out the poor. But as was the case when the protest was centered at City Hall, not everyone connected with the movement is particularly political.

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KevinKersh at 12:10 PM July 19, 2012

There is significant misinformation about the CCA and BID. First of all, the CCA has worked in concert to bring hundreds of affordable and subsidized housing uints to fruitinon in DTLA. There have been no net affordable units lost to the so called "gentrification". In fact, the units that have either been added or upgraded are in the very neighborhoods that LACAN and Occupy claim were lost to development. In addition, the CCA and BID employ individuals that are trying to better their lives - bring them up off of the streets. The purple pleople are a clear example of former DTLA homless being put to work through a prtnership with Chrisalys on Main Street.

Another issue is that the Occupy folks are slowly deteriorating the community fabric of DTLA - a fabric that has tanek decades to weave and nurture. That fabric includes loft dweller, subsidized housing participants and even the homless. The community that took so long to build is being destroyed by a few, mis-informed individuals. Once Occupy moves into an area, the peace and quiet of the night is disrupted, fecal matter and urination increases, the the general safety of an area goes downhill - I know... they have been camped a block from me. In addition, their activites are threatening community related events like the Pershin Square Farmers Market and Art Walk.

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